Georgia and Spain meet in a Pool A decider on Saturday afternoon to kick-start a cracking weekend of men’s Rugby Europe Championship action.
The Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi will be bouncing for the game at 4pm local time (noon UTC) as the sides look to make it three wins from three before the knock-out stages.
Both sides have nine points from a possible 10 and Georgia are just currently top on points difference as +32 plays +24.
Georgia won the corresponding fixture last year 41-3 and are 13th in the world rankings with Spain 19th.
Spain head coach Pablo Bouza said: “We are expecting a very tough match against last year’s champions.
“To compete we will need our scrum and maul to be functioning and it is a tough place to go.”
Next up at 4.30pm local time (2,30pm UTC) is the Pool B decider between current leaders Romania and Portugal.
Romania are on nine points with Portugal on six, they are 20th and 16th in the world respectively and when they met in this tournament last year the Portuguese side won 38-10.
The match is being played in the Arcul de Triumf stadium in Bucharest.
David Gérard, the Romania head coach, said: “This is our last group match against the most dangerous of opponents, Portugal, the sensation of the last Rugby World Cup in France.
“We have no choice, if we want to play a semi-final in front of our home crowd we have to beat them and, believe me, it won't be easy. The players are ready, it is up to them to decide how the rest of the competition looks for us.”
João Mirra, a member of the Portugal coaching team, said: “We know that we may face difficulties, but we have a team to compete and to win. Just because we beat Poland doesn't mean that suddenly we are the same team as in the World Cup.
“It gave us good indicators, starting with the reaction to a very bad game in Belgium, but we remain the same and have a lot to improve on.”
The third match on Saturday sees Belgium and Poland meeting at 6pm local time (5pm UTC) at the Stade du Pachy in Waterloo.
This is a Pool B match and Belgium are third in the standings with four points and Poland are fourth and yet to get off the mark.
There are sitting 26th and 33rd in the world respectively and Poland won the group stage match between the two 21-15 last year before the Belgians got revenge in the play-off phase 18-17 to finish seventh.
Chris Hitt, Poland head coach, said: “Our focus from the start has been to stay in this competition. In performances that we've had, especially Romania, we showed some really good parts in our game.
“But obviously last week we succumbed to the pressure and ability of Portugal who played a much better game plan than us. Going into this game we need to refocus and get ready for a challenge the Belgium will bring.
“This will be completely different game that we had against Portugal.
“Looking at their game, Belgium are a very physical and confrontational team. Also, the work they do off the ball, well we need to be prepared for that. There is no real pressure on us from the squad point of view.
“We are just looking to improve our performance and hopefully come away with the win. We are looking forward to this challenge.”
Sunday sees the final group game being played and the full knock-out phase being finalised.
It is Netherlands against Germany and they are currently third and fourth in Pool A.
The clash takes place at the National Rugby Center in Amsterdam at 1.30pm local time (12.30pm UTC) and is 29th in the world versus 32nd.
Netherlands won 33-29 in the corresponding fixture last year and then won the play-off meeting 50-28 to finish fifth.
Where to Watch :
GEO v ESP
- GEO : Imedi & Rugby TV
- ESP : Movistar +
- GER : Joyn and Ran.de
- Rest of the world : RugbypassTV & rugbyeurope.TV
ROU v POR :
- POR : Sport TV
- GER : Joyn and Ran.de
- Rest of the world : rugbyeurope.TV
BEL v POL :
- GER : Joyn and Ran.de
- Rest of the world : rugbyeurope.TV
NED v GER:
- NED : Ziggo Sport
- GER : Pro Sieben MAXX
- Rest of the world : rugbyeurope.TV
